Blade holder



Oct. 24, 1950 c coc 2,526,867

BLADE HOLDER Filed Oct. 9, 1946 H65. F\G.6.

Q m Elm H66.

fir

INVENTOR.

ABHmHwch BY MAYYFEMLA) ATTORNEY.

I Patented Oct. 24, 1950 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE BPA H wie-.. ArthurB. Hitchcock, New Britain; Qohn. Application ctober 9, 194sjf's eri i'No. 702 431 This invention relates to blade holders, and moreparticularly to holders for single edge razor blades. A conventionalrazor blade 'of this type' is a rather substantial article having-a"longi--" tudinal cutting edge and afolded reinforcing cap at theopposite longitudinal margin, so it can be conveniently handled like a.knife for various cutting operations.

One of my objects is to produce a very simple holder, or case, for ablade of this kind adapted to be carried in a pocket or purse, andhaving special safety conditions which positively prevent accidentaldisplacement of the bladegin the holder, while allowing the blade to beeasily withdrawn for use as aimife. I'will, hereafter describe a verylight and small, compactholder which enables the blade to be quicklyremoved in one simple sliding motion, and returned to safety in asimilar reverse movement.

More specifically stated, an object is to produce a holder comprising aspring clip which cooperates with the folded reinforcing cap of aconventional blade to prevent lateral displacement of the blade, whilealso forcing the cap and blade into firm frictional contact with a backmember of the holder to prevent accidental longitudinal displacement,the cutting margin being firmly seated above a protective shield toavoid accidental cutting when the blade is confined by the holder.

A further object is to obtain the foregoing and other advantages from anextremely simple holder composed of a single sheet of metal including aspring clip forming a longitudinal pocket, or guide, for the relativelylarge folded cap of the blade, together with special cooperative detailsallowing the blade to be very freely inserted into and removed from thespring clip.

Fig. 1 is a front view drawn, to an enlarged scale, showing an ordinarysingle edge razor blade confined in a holder embodying features of thisinvention.

Fig. 2 is an end view of the same.

Fig. 3 is a face view of the blade.

Fig. 4 is an end view of said blade.

Fig. 5 is an end view of the holder shown in Figures 1 and 2.

Fig. 6 is a front view of the holder, the blade being omitted.

Fig. 7 is a bottom view of the holder.

Fig. 8 is a detail view of a single sheet of spring metal adapted toform all of the elements of the blade-holder.

Fig. 9 is an end view of the sheet shown in Fig. 8,

1 Claim. (01. 30462),

Q with 'dotte'dlines showing folded marginal tions" thereof.

I will now describe specific details shown in the drawings, with theunderstanding that the scope ofthe invention extends to variations andmodifications more broadly described by terms employed in the claimhereunto appended.

The single-edgerazor blade comprises a blade member In having areinforcing cap ll folded onto and united with one of its longitudinalmargins, and a cutting edge l2 at the opposite longitudinal margin.

' The clipidevice for detachably holding a blade of this kind in aninoperative condition is formed by a single sheet of spring metal shownin Fig-' fires 8 and 9. This simple sheet is bent as suggested by:dottedlines in Fig. 9 to produce a flat back member l3 and a spring clipmember l4, the latter being .folded over a margin of the back member toform a longitudinal guideway l5 for the cap ll of the blade. Both endsof this guideway I5 are entirely open to freely receive and permitlongitudinal movement of the blade 10 and its cap I I. The blade can beeasily extracted or entered by hand at either end, but when secured byspring pressure of the special clip device it cannot be accidentallydisplaced or thrown out of the holder.

The clip member M has an inturned marginal abutment lip I! whichcontacts with the slidable blade at an imaginary line 18 (Fig. 3)adjacent to the cap ll, so as to positively limit lateral movement ofthe cap ll and blade Ill, while forcing the marginal cap and anoppositely disposed marginal portion of the blade onto the fiat backmember l3, as shown in Fig. 2. Study of these conditions in Fig. 2 willshow that the spring pressure transmitted from the abutment lip I1 tiltsthe blade on a flat surface of the back member l3, and that there areonly two lines of contact at said back member. More specifically stated,the inner edge of the marginal cap H is forced onto said back member asshown at 19 in Fig. 2, while a lower marginal portion of the tiltedblade I0 is forced onto a bottom marginal portion of the back member, asshown at 20. Consequently, there are two parallel lines of contact atthe back member l3, as suggested at 19 and 20 in Figures 2 and 6. Allother areas of the tilted blade and its cap are separated from said backmember, so the blade is relatively free to slide longitudinally on saidlines l9 and 20 while being inserted into or withdrawn from the holder.

Furthermore, the inner edge of the lip I1 is porpreferably curved, asshown most clearly in Fig. 7, so as to provide a central abutment edgeportion which contacts with the blade, and inclined edge portionsdiverging from opposite sides of the central abutment. This tends toreduce friction at the lip l1 and permits free insertion of the slidableblade. The end edges of the spring clip member I4 are inclined at 2|,and this tends to aid in allowing free insertion of the cap ll into theguideway [5. It may be noted that said guideway I 5 is substantiallylarger than the cap I l to provide clearance around said cap.

The spring pressure of the folded clip member H can be broken up, orreduced, in any desired manner, but I prefer to accomplish this byforming openings 22 extending into the foldf and these' openings mayhave inclined wallsin order that an end edge of the blade cap mayreadily slip by, without bein accidentally obstructed at said openings.

1T0 preventaccidental cutting when thetblad'eisconfined in the holder,the back member has a smooth, flat protective margin 23 extended beyondthe line of contact 20, thereby ;forming a smooth shield for the cuttingedge. This safety condition is well adapted to cooperate with theconditions which tilt the blade as shown in Fig 2, to practicall locatethe extremity of the cutting edge in contact with the back-member.

I'claim:

In a pocket'knife device,aa blade ,havingaa reinforcing cap united with.its'itop longitudinal margin and a cuttingedgeat-itsbottomlongitudlllfilklIlEi-lglll, and a clip device to .forciblyfconfinersaidccutting edge in an inoperative position, 3 said clipdevice including a flat :back member and a spring clip member extendedlaterally and downwardly from the top longitudinal margin of said backmember to provide a longitudinal passageway to slidably receive a bottomedge of the reinforcing cap and the cuttin edge of the blade along twoparallel longitudinal lines of contact, said blade having its capslidable in said passageway but separated from the downwardly extendedportion of the spring clip member to allow the blade and its cap tooccupy a tilted position on the back member, said-spring clipmemberhavingan inturned marginal lip provided with an extended middleedge portion contacting with the blade at a line adjacent to the cap, soas to confine the cap in said passageway while forcibly tilting said capand cutting edge to contact said parallel longitudinal lines of contact,said inturned marginal lip also having inclined edge REFERENCES CITEDThe f ollowing references are of record in the filieof this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name I Date 549,319 Kampfe et al, June 4,1895 1,552,488, Kattell. Sept. 8, 1925 l-,552,887 Simpson Sept. 8, 19251,643,757 Wallenbeck- Sept. 27, 1927

